2004 Vote Count off by 9,000,000

With the 2006 Midterm elections just weeks away, many progressives have expressed a fear of possible manipulation of the vote by conservative republicans. Hundreds of scholarly articles and semi-scientific studies have been published this year alone which take a hard look at elections presidential exit polling and the technology used to record votes.

Steven Freeman, a Visiting Scholar and Affiliated Faculty in the Center for Organizational Dynamics at University of Pennsylvania, and co-author Joel Bleifuss, editor of In These Times Magazine, recently published Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen?: Exit Polls, Election Fraud, and the Official Count on Seven Stories Press. The book is a fascinating analysis of election polling, and the flawed Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machines deployed in several states with funds provided by the 2001 Help America Vote Act. I interviewed Professor Freeman by phone and on the internet.

Larry Sakin: In the first chapter of your book, Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? President Bush seems very worried about the election outcome. If the Republicans stole the election, why would Bush be so concerned?

Steven Freeman: Good question. Actually, I did not want to include that story in the book. It was there at the behest of my publisher and co-author, who felt it made a compelling narrative. I agreed to include it because it happened on Election Day, involved exit polls, President Bush, was well sourced, and consistent with other evidence (e.g., the cancelled Election Day broadcasts in the critical battleground state of Florida).

It could be argued that it suggests that the Bush/Cheney campaign did not steal the election or that if they did, George Bush did not know about it. On the other hand, it also indicates that the president, who is after all a highly seasoned politician, was concerned about the exit polls. On face value it suggests that, of course the exit polls and corollary indicators (high turnout, low approval ratings) were right. All knowledgeable observers understood it; Tony Blair went to bed believing that Kerry had won. Even George Bush understood it. Our source indicates he was furious because he had been assured that he would win; he may have not understood, or forgotten, or been temporarily confused that he was going to win*despite* the exit polls and corollary indicators, indeed despite how people cast their ballots.

The source was equally clear that his political operative Karl Rove calmly assured him everything would be okay. And this is consistent with other reports. Despite widespread Election Day predictions that Kerry had won, the Bush/Cheney campaign team remained highly confident. Political scientists and journalists reported that confidence was based on their “on-the-ground intelligence,” the details of which has never been explicated.

Sakin: You write extensively about the long poll lines and lack of voting machines in heavily Democratic areas in various places across the country. What measures can voter integrity activists take to counteract these problems?